"Defending New Hampshire Public Education" provides resources for citizens concerned about New Hampshire education.

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ANALYSISThis bill eliminates the office of the chancellor of the university system of New Hampshire and transfers all powers and duties of the chancellor to the board of trustees of the university system of New Hampshire.

NO REST FOR UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: The University System of New Hampshire incurred one of the Legislature’s biggest budget cuts last session when lawmakers slashed $90 million from Gov. John Lynch’s proposed budget.

This week, system officials will have to fend off an attempt to abolish the Chancellor’s Office, whose responsibilities and duties would be turned over to the system’s board of trustees and the presidents of the four colleges.

House Bill 1692 would also reduce the number of student trustees on the board from two to one and the number of alumni representatives from four to one.

In their effort to improve the management of the University System of New Hampshire, House members should proceed with care.

House Bill 1692 would eliminate the office of the university system chancellor.

It is unclear why New Hampshire needs one anyway. The bill also cuts the system’s breaucracy, which ought to be a long-term goal. Slashing it from 71 employees to 12 by the end of June, though, might not be the best way to go.

Would that end up creating more bureaucracy at the individual campuses? System trustees say it would, and it appears that they have a case. Their concerns need to be considered seriously before this bill makes it out of the House. It doesn’t do much good if legislators shift the bureaucracy around rather than cut out the fat.

Ed Dupont, chairman of the USNH Board of Trustees, is no enemy of reform. Under his leadership, the board wants to trim the central bureaucracy, cut costs and make the individual institutions more autonomous.

House Speaker Bill O’Brien, who is a co-sponsor of this bill, is understandably concerned about timing. Getting changes through before the end of this fiscal year (June 30th) would allow the state to enjoy the savings in the next budget.

That is a valid concern.

Getting this reform right, though, is just as important.

If it is done badly, it gives opponents of reform an excuse to undo everything next year.